The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and collaborators, simulated the four-month migration of oil from the spill in the Gulf of Mexico by modeling how currents would move dye injected at the site of the spill for two months.

From the simulation, it looks the flow could go into the North Atlantic coast area. That is, the entire U.S. coast line could be at risk.

So, how long will it take for BP to pay (in monetary terms) for all this? Eternity seems a likely answer. ExxonMobil actually got lucky with the Valdez being a tanker with a finite amount of oil, instead of a live flowing well.